Key indicating device

ABSTRACT

The specification disclosed a device for indicating keys, especially keys of the lower keyboard of an electronic organ, in which a strip bearing key indicia is mounted in an inclined location above the keys at the back thereof. The indicia are not normally visible to the organ player but become visible when the strip is illuminated from the rear. Illumination of the strip is accomplished by lamps and a bar-like light conducting lens behind the strip with the lamps being energized when the organ is adjusted to play chords. The indicia indicate the chords which will sound when the keys indicated by the indicia are depressed.

United States Patent [1 1 Hebeisen et al.

11] 3,717,065 [451 Feb. 20, 19 73 [54] KEY INDICATING DEVICE [75]inventors: Richard M. llebelsen; Samuel C.

Voelkel, both of Jasper, Ind.

[73] Assignee: Jasper Electronics Manufacturing Co., Jasper, 1nd.

[22] Filed: Sept. 2, 1971 21 Appl. No.: 177,578

[52] US. Cl. ..84/478, 84/453 [51] Int. Cl. ..G09b 15/08 [58] Field ofSearch ..84/470, 477, 478, 479, 485,

2,909,956 10/1959 Radcliffe... 3,415,152 12/1968 Gullickson....

[57] ABSTRACT The specification disclosed a device for indicating keys,especially keys of the lower keyboard of an electronic organ, in which astrip bearing keyindicia is mounted in an inclined location above thekeys at the back thereof. The indicia are not normally visible to theorgan player but become visible when the strip is illuminated from therear. Illumination of the strip is accomplished by lamps and a bar-likelight conducting lens behind the strip with the lamps being energizedwhen the organ is adjusted to play chords. The indicia indicate thechords which will sound when the keys indicated by the indicia aredepressed.

10 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTED FEB2 01975 SHEET 10F 2 INVENTORSRICHARD MHEBERSEM BY SAMUEL c. VOELKEL MAFQW PATENTEDFEB201973 SHEET 2OF 2 INVENTORS RICHARD M, HGBEISEN SBMUEL c. VOELKEL KEY INDICATINGDEVICE The present invention relates to electronic organs and isparticularly concerned with an arrangement for designating certain keysof the lower keyboard of such an organ.

Electronic organs are now constructed so as to permit playing thereof inother than the conventional mode wherein each key plays a notecorresponding to the respective key. One modification of the organresults in keys of the lower keyboard playing chords. Only certain keysare employed for this purpose and, in order to group the desired chordswithin a fairly small range of the keyboard, it is not convenient forthe chords which the keys cause to sound when the keys are depressed,always to correspond to the respective keys. This situation can lead tosome confusion on the part of the organ player, especially if the playeris not highly skilled.

With the foregoing in mind, a primary object of the present invention isthe provision of an arrangement for indicating the keys of an organwhich are to be depressed to obtain certain chords when the organ isadjusted to play in mode.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a simple 'andinexpensive arrangement of the nature referred to and which does not inany way detract from the appearance of the organ or interfere withplaying of the organ in conventional mode.

Still another object of the invention is the'provision of an arrangementof the nature referred to in which the indicia are not visible to theorgan player when the organ is adjusted to play in conventional mode butwhich become visible to the player when the organ is adjusted to play inchord mode.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention willbecome more apparent upon reference to the following detaileddescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a portion of an electronic organ,namely, the lower keyboard of a two manual organ;

FIG. 2 is a transverse section indicated by line Il-II on FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view looking in from the left side of FIG. 2and showing the device according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view indicated by line IV-IV on FIG. 3and drawn at enlarged scale; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the back of a coverstrip forming a part of the structure according to the presentinvention.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the present invention, an inclined,elongated strip is disposed above the keys of the lower keyboard of anelectronic organ and bears indicia over certain ones of the keys. Theindicia are on the back of the strip and, normally, are invisible to theorgan player. Illuminating means behind the strip is provided which,when energized make the indicia visible. The illuminating means consistsof a bar of light conducting material behind the strip and a lamp ateach end thereof. When the organ is adjusted to play chords, byactuating a switch, the lamps are energized and the indicia becomeilluminated and are plainly visible to the organ player. A

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In the drawings, with particularreference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the lower keyboard of a two manual organ isindicated generally at 10, while the upper keyboard thereof is indicatedat 12. According to the present invention, there is provided above thekeys of lower keyboard 10 and at the back an elongated member generallyindicated at 14 and which may be secured to the undersides of the cheekblocks pertaining to the upper keyboard, one of which is indicated at16. The cheek blocks are wood and the connection of member 14 theretomay be effected by wood screws 18.

Member 14, at the bottom, may rest on the cheek blocks 20 pertaining tothe lower keyboard or may be spaced therefrom.

Member 14 comprises a first elongated element 22, which may be formed ofplastic or any other suitable material. Member 22 is bar-like and hashorizontal top and bottom faces and a vertical back face, while thefront face, facing outwardly toward the front of the keyboard 10, isadvantageously inclined outwardly toward the bottom as indicated at 24.The inclined portion 24 of elongated member 22 carries a cover strip 26which may be a simple rectangle when viewed in cross section.

Cover strip 26 may be secured to member 22 in any suitable manner, as byscrews or' by cementing, but it has been found suitable to place a stripof double sided adhesive 28 between cover strip 26 and the inclinedsurface of member 22. This sort of interconnection of the two parts isparticularly satisfactory when both parts are formed of a plasticmaterial. The cover strip 26 is formed of a plastic material such asplexiglass and is advantageously, but not necessarily, colored as, forexample, green.

As will be disclosed more fully hereinafter, the plexiglass cover strip26 is provided with indicia 30 which are normally invisible to the organplayer but which become-visible under certain conditions of operation.

As will be seen in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, member 22 is formed with alongitudinally extending groove or slot 32 which may extend completelyto the ends of the member or which may terminate short of the endsthereof.

As will best be seen in FIG. 3,'groove or slot 32 extends over a portionof the length only of member 22 and at the opposite ends runs intoapertures 34 which extend completely through member 22 from the front tothe back.

Each of the elongated apertures 34 is adapted for receiving a lampsocket 36 having a support arm 38 that may be secured to the back ofmember 22 as by a screw 40. Each socket has connectors 42 for the supplyof electrical energy thereto and is adapted for receiving a lamp 44. Theaxis of the lamp and socket extend in the direction of the length ofmember 22 and are confined completely within the confines of therespective aperture 34.

A tube 46 of, for example, fishpaper, telescopically fits over socket 36and lamp 44. With the described arto extend over the portion of strip26-which bears the aforementioned indicia 30 and somewhat beyond thesaid portion of strip 26 and over at least that region of x the saidstrip the clear plexiglass lens bar is backed up by a reflective tapeelement 50.

As will be seen in FIG. 2, reflective tape element 50 extends up thevertical back face of the clear plexiglass lens bar 48 and across thehorizontal bottom face thereof. In any case, the reflective tape 50 isin close face to face engagement with the adjacent faces of the clearplexiglass lens bar and will cause light to be deflected so as toemanate from bar 48 on that side thereof facing cover strip 26 so as toilluminate at least that portion of strip 26 which bears theaforementioned indicia 30.

When lamps 44 are energized, the indicia 30 are plainly visible, andwhen the lamps are extinguished, the indicia become substantiallyinvisible.

As will be seen in FIG. 5, cover strip 26 has an opaque layer 52 on theback thereof and the indicia 30 are formed through the said opaquelayer. Thus, when light emanates from the clearly plexiglass lens bar,it

will only be visible through cover strip 26 where the indicia 30interrupt the continuity of the opaque layer 52 on the back of the coverstrip.

It will be noted in FIG. I that the indicia on strip 30 are arranged sothat each indicium is over a respective key of a series thereof, forexample, a series of 13 keys, although the particular number of keys isnot important and could consist of a greater or a fewer number thereof.

In any case, the key indications carried by strip 26 do not necessarilyconform to the normal key positions in the keyboard, and the reason forthis is that the arrangement of the present invention is provided foruse with an electronic organ which has a regular, or conventional,playing mode and a chord playing mode.

When the organ is in conventional mode, lamps 44 are extinguished andthe indicia 30 are not visible and the keys beneath the indicia play inthe normal manner. When, however, the organ is adjusted to play in chordmode, the keys of the lower manual beneath the indicia on strip 26 playthose chords which are designated on the strip and, at this time, thestrip is illuminated to show the player which key to depress to sound acertain chord.

The chords indicated on the strip are not all of the chords that can beplayed, or provided for, but represent about the minimum number ofchords necessary for playing a fairly wide range of compositions,particularly popular music.

Modifications may be made within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In an electronic organ having a keyboard; a member extending alongthe keyboard at the back thereof and ,above the keys of the keyboard,said member bearing indicia above at least some of the keys of thekeyboard, said some of said keys comprising a group of adjacent keys,and means for illuminating said member, all of said indicia beingsimultaneously and clearly visible to the player of the organ only whensaid member is illuminated and being substantially invisible in theabsence of illumination of said member, said member comprising a stripof light conductive material and said means for illuminating said stripkey located behind the strip and causing light to pass outwardly throughthe strip toward the front thereof.

2. An electronic organ according to claim 1 in which said stripcomprises an opaque layer extending longitudinally thereof, said indiciabeing in the form of interruptions in said opaque layer.

3. An electronic organ according to claim 2 in which said means forilluminating said strip comprises lamp means behind said strip, and lensmeans interposed between said lamp means and the indicia bearing portionof said strip and operable to direct light from said lamp means againstthe back of at least said portion of said strip.

4. An electronic organ according to claim 3 in which said lens means isa bar-like element of light conducting material extending parallel tosaid strip and adjacent the back of said strip, said lamp means beingdisposed at at least one end of said bar-like element.

5. An electronic organ according to claim 4 which includes a reflectivefilm on said bar-like element on the side facing away from said stripalong that part of the bar-like element which is coextensive with theindicia bearing portion of said strip.

6. An electronic organ according to claim 3 in which said lens means isa bar-like element of light conducting material extending parallel tosaid strip and adjacent the back of said strip, said lamp meanscomprising a lamp at each end of said bar-like element, and a reflectivefilm on said bar-like element on the side facing away from said stripalong that part of the bar-like element which is coextensive with theindicia bearing portion of said strip.

7. An electronic organ according to claim 4 which includes an elongatedsupport member, a groove in said support member receiving said lensmeans, and an aperture in said support member at each end of said lensmeans, said lamp means comprising a pair of lamps carried by saidsupport member and one thereof disposed in each aperture near theadjacent end of said lamp means.

8. An electronic organ according to claim 7 which includes opaquetubular shields surrounding said lamps and open toward the adjacent endof said lens means.

9. An electronic organ according to claim 8 in which said strip extendssubstantially the full length of said support member and is wider thansaid groove so as to extend beyond said lens means in all directions.

10. An electronic organ according to claim 9 which includes adhesivemeans connecting said strip to said support member.

* 1 i i i

1. In an electronic organ having a keyboard; a member extending alongthe keyboard at the back thereof and above the keys of the keyboard,said member bearing indicia above at least some of the keys of thekeyboard, said some of said keys comprising a group of adjacent keys,and means for illuminating said member, all of said indicia beingsimultaneously and clearly visible to the player of the organ only whensaid member is illuminated and being substantially invisible in theabsence of illumination of said member, said member comprising a stripof light conductive material and said means for illuminating said stripkey located behind the strip and causing light to pass outwardly throughthe strip toward the front thereof.
 1. In an electronic organ having akeyboard; a member extending along the keyboard at the back thereof andabove the keys of the keyboard, said member bearing indicia above atleast some of the keys of the keyboard, said some of said keyscomprising a group of adjacent keys, and means for illuminating saidmember, all of said indicia being simultaneously and clearly visible tothe player of the organ only when said member is illuminated and beingsubstantially invisible in the absence of illumination of said member,said member comprising a strip of light conductive material and saidmeans for illuminating said strip key located behind the strip andcausing light to pass outwardly through the strip toward the frontthereof.
 2. An electronic organ according to claim 1 in which said stripcomprises an opaque layer extending longitudinally thereof, said indiciabeing in the form of interruptions in said opaque layer.
 3. Anelectronic organ according to claim 2 in which said means forilluminating said strip comprises lamp means behind said strip, and lensmeans interposed between said lamp means and the indicia bearing portionof said strip and operable to direct light from said lamp means againstthe back of at least said portion of said strip.
 4. An electronic organaccording to claim 3 in which saId lens means is a bar-like element oflight conducting material extending parallel to said strip and adjacentthe back of said strip, said lamp means being disposed at at least oneend of said bar-like element.
 5. An electronic organ according to claim4 which includes a reflective film on said bar-like element on the sidefacing away from said strip along that part of the bar-like elementwhich is coextensive with the indicia bearing portion of said strip. 6.An electronic organ according to claim 3 in which said lens means is abar-like element of light conducting material extending parallel to saidstrip and adjacent the back of said strip, said lamp means comprising alamp at each end of said bar-like element, and a reflective film on saidbar-like element on the side facing away from said strip along that partof the bar-like element which is coextensive with the indicia bearingportion of said strip.
 7. An electronic organ according to claim 4 whichincludes an elongated support member, a groove in said support memberreceiving said lens means, and an aperture in said support member ateach end of said lens means, said lamp means comprising a pair of lampscarried by said support member and one thereof disposed in each aperturenear the adjacent end of said lamp means.
 8. An electronic organaccording to claim 7 which includes opaque tubular shields surroundingsaid lamps and open toward the adjacent end of said lens means.
 9. Anelectronic organ according to claim 8 in which said strip extendssubstantially the full length of said support member and is wider thansaid groove so as to extend beyond said lens means in all directions.